Microloan Mom Faida Cibanvunya’s Miracle

For years, Faida and her husband had no work, and no means to feed, clothe, or send their six children to school. “We suffered for many years,” she says. “Some of my children were going to school, but in very bad conditions.” They had no food to eat, no shoes to wear, and often went to class without the necessary books. “I can’t even talk about a school bag [backpack] – I had no money to ever buy one for any of the kids. I could never think about buying clothes. At that time, when one of my children was sick, I could not afford to take them to a doctor. Can you imagine that?” she asks. “Seeing your child suffer, and not being able to do anything about it?”

Faida confided that she had been losing hope. Uncertain what she could do, unable to find work to care for her family, she thought about suicide. That day she saw a friend who invited her to go to apply for the Microloan Project with ABFEC (Action Kivu’s partner organization in Congo).

“I got the loan,” Faida says with a smile. “It was a miracle that I had never seen in my life. I started my business, selling cassava flour, and I thank God – everything is going well. With this small business, I am now able to pay the school fees for all my children, buy food for them, and I save some money. ABFEC also gave me a goat, which helps provide fertilizer for my soil. I don’t know how I can describe my former life, but I can say that I have seen a great change in my life because of Action Kivu’s support. Thank you so much to the people who made this possible.”

Thanks to individual donors giving initial investments through Action Kivu, ABFEC’s Microloan Project is up and running in eastern Congo, sustaining itself as the businesswomen re-invest a portion of their proceeds back into the program, funding more and more women to launch their own small businesses.